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chris and thomas

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About Me

c&t on Morning Becomes Eclectic (89.9 KCRW)

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With sounds gathered from the landscapes of the American Southwest, chris and thomas’ music could just as easily find its home in the rainy hills of the early 1970’s English countryside. Combining American roots instrumentation with soothing vocal harmonies, the duo’s rustic sounds and heartfelt songs are filled with thoughtful lyricism, harkening back to the likes of Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and the Beatles.

Chris and Thomas became close friends at the historic art school in Liverpool where John Lennon and Paul McCartney had met up decades before. During their student years they found themselves in the bohemian surrounds of a group of painters, sculptors, renegades, holy men and metaphysical explorers who had made up much of Liverpool’s underground. They played the drunken Irish pubs till the sun shone and they sang for the Queen while they earned music degrees in film composition. In the late 90’s the two had created “Cook Au Van,” a traveling cooking show. The vehicle for the show was literally an old gas board utility van that they had converted into a five star restaurant. Made from exquisite found objects, the van boasted water fountains, changing works of art and a fully functional wet bar. Inside the van, they hosted dinner parties for the Lord Mayor and countless British celebrities. After doing the circus lifestyle with the traveling restaurant and cooking for the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Bill Drummond, politicians and fine artists, the two had decided to turn back to their true love of music. In 2003 chris and thomas arrived in Los Angeles, California. The duo’s live debut was on 11/18/03, opening up at the Hotel Café for singer/ songwriter Alexi Murdoch. Their unique live performance which involved playing with one condenser microphone and gathering around it like some modern day Carter Family, quickly earned chris and thomas a name on the L.A club circuit. That was just the beginning. Returning from a weekend in Joshua Tree, the two were greeted by multiple phone messages from excited friends who had heard their song “Take These Thoughts” on L.A.’s influential NPR station KCRW. It was news to the pair. Their EP, Vista Street Sessions, was passed on by a mutual friend to the station’s tastemaker DJ /music director Nic Harcourt. Harcourt programmed the disc on his show, eventually included it on NPR’s syndicated Sounds Eclectic, which introduced a national audience to chris and thomas. Since then a lot has happened.

On air performances on KCRW and other radio stations followed with appearances at SXSW and other venues and festivals throughout the country. More radio stations have added chris and thomas to their playlists as their fan base continues to grow in the U.S., in continental Europe and in the UK.

“Take These Thoughts” recently won best song of the year in the Americana category at the Independent Music Awards 2006. The duo’s full length debut Land Of Sea was recorded with renowned producer/engineer Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, U2, Tom Waits). Howard, who used to work with producer Daniel Lanois for over ten years, has a very unique way of recording. He rented out an old soundstage in Hollywood the size of Abbey Road Studios, where he set up vintage recording equipment, Persian rugs, Victorian lamps and brought in legendary musicians to accompany chris and thomas on their record.

The record was first released in the UK in 2006 in conjunction with a 5 week tour and has gained critical acclaim and rave reviews (4 stars and runner up to album of the month in MOJO Magazine).

The US release includes the bonus track "Horse In The Sky". The song, penned by chris and thomas and Oscar nominated composer John Debney, is featured in the end credits of Garry Marshall’s new film Georgia Rule starring Lindsey Lohan and Jane Fonda.Chris and thomas’ woven harmonies and sparse instrumentation will make you think of big skies with small clouds.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/21/2005
Band Website: defendmusic.com/chrisandthomas.php
Band Members: Chris & thomas: voices, guitars, banjo, dobro, mandolin, piano, the odd foot tapping and the creeky chair squeeking. Brother Fate: our dear old friendship.
Influences:

Land of Sea

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PRESS:

"Rarely have two musical hearts so beat as one...Land of Sea is a timeless set."

-All Music Guide (AMG)

" T heir voices fuse like twins on this excellent debut…evocative and impressive stuff."

-Mojo Magazine

“One of my favorite indie releases of the year.”

- Nic Ha rc ourt , 89.9 KCRW Los Angeles

“If you thought West Coast harmony singing went out of fashion with Crosby , S tills, Nash and Young, think again. Breezing in with a ravishing exhibition of acoustic loveliness come chris and thomas , two ultra talented dudes with mellow voices that complement each other perfectly.”

- T he S un ( UK )

“If you like to hear instruments well played, and thoughtful, well-written lyrics backed by tuneful melodies and solid rhythms, there can be few better groups to see than chris and thomas .”

- S usan Mansfield, T he S cotsman (Edinburgh Festival Review)

“ chris and thomas were f*%ing excellent. I was blown away.”

-Mark Hutner, American S ociety of Composers, Authors and Publishers (A S CAP)

“unconventional lyrics and expert harmonies - chris & thomas emerge as artists to keep your eye on.”

-Mare Wakefield , Performing S ongwriter Magazine

“You'll hear what they did, it's just so, so lovely.”

-Alexi Murdoch, S inger- S ongwriter

Influences: bob dylan, joan baez singing dylan songs, simon and garfunkel, nick drake, the beatles, john martyn, leonard cohen, neil young, crosby stills & nash, cat stevens, johnny cash, early bluesy elvis presley, old delta blues and bluegrass of all sorts, kieran kane and kevin welch, emmy lou harris, j. j. cale, old chant music from around the globe, much music from the continent of africa, blind willie johnson, the wainright family (rufus wainwright, louden wainwright III, martha wainwright), the standards when sung by billie holiday, ella fitzgerald, madeleine peyroux, dinah washington or chet baker, tom waits, vashti bunyon, fairport convention, mississippi john hurt, nina simone, queen, jeff buckley, the andrews sisters, bulgarian women's choir, bach, beethoven, chopin, debussy, philip glass, steve reich, gavin bryars, terry reilly, arvo part, gorecki, high energy wild klezmer music, paul brady, the chieftens, benny goodman, gypsie music, django reinhardt, old and contemporary tango music from argentina, astor piazolla, the comedian harmonists, alexi murdoch, pedestrian, jesca hoop, regina spektor, scott joplin and all that old ragtime sound, george gershwin, irving berlin, cole porter, the kinks, george harrison, ravi shankar and the stuff they play in indian restaurants (no intended insult to ravi, just our own lack of taste), the hum of nature against the busy city, joshua tree national park and the rabbits of white tank, the yips and howls of coyotes in the night, shooting stars, yosemite, big sequoia forests, cool oceans with sunny beaches, kind and smart, flirtatious (it's an art) beautiful women, dynamic people past and present, you.
Sounds Like: old and new, here and gone, yesterday and tomorrow, happiness and sorrow.
Record Label: Defend Music / Boar Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Listen to c&ts live session on Worldcafe in the NPR archives!

    chris and thomas featured live on World Cafe National Public Radio's World Cafe with host David Dye broadcasted a live session with chris and thomas. click on the link below to listen ...
Posted by chris and thomas on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:06:00 PST

to our fans in the UK and in Europe!

Dear all, Since a lot of you have been contacting us over the last few month asking when we'll be returning to the UK we thought we'd let you know what's going on: We just got back from a US...
Posted by chris and thomas on Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:33:00 PST

East coast tour dates!!!

Dear all, chris and thomas will be supporting Teddy Geiger on the following east coast tour dates: Sep 27    Crocodile Rock         &n bsp;&n...
Posted by chris and thomas on Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:01:00 PST

Great review in hybrid magazine!

chris and thomas get great review in hybrid magazine! please click here to check it out: http://www.hybridmagazine.com/reviews/0807/chrisandthomas.sh tml...
Posted by chris and thomas on Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:54:00 PST

chris and thomas featured on NPRs World Cafe!!!

chris and thomas featured on NPRs World Cafe!!! click below to check it out and listen in the archives: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1254902 4...
Posted by chris and thomas on Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:33:00 PST

chris and thomas play sold out show at McCabes!!!

chris and thomas played a sold out show at McCabes last Friday!!! They were accompanied by legendary Don Heffington on drums, Hal Cragin on bass, Simone Vitucci on cello and Eric Heywood on pedal ste...
Posted by chris and thomas on Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:03:00 PST

Take These Thoughts will be featured by AOL as MP3 of the day on Spinner.com on July 17th

chris and thomas' Take These Thoughts' will be featured as MP3 of the day on AOL's Spinner on July 17th! ...
Posted by chris and thomas on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 04:44:00 PST

Take These Thoughts featured on NPRs song of the day!!!

Today, Tuesday, July 17th, chris and thomas' Take These Thoughts is being featured on NPR's song of the day! Please click on the link below: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12...
Posted by chris and thomas on Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:48:00 PST

iTunes will feature Chris and Thomas in their July Singer/Songwriter section, starting July 18!

iTunes will feature Chris and Thomas in their July Singer/Songwriter section, starting Wednesday, July 18th! ...
Posted by chris and thomas on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 01:55:00 PST

Take These Thoughts will be featured on KCRWs Todays Top Tune on Monday, July 16th!

  Take These Thoughts will be available for download and podcast 24 hours or until the next song is posted. To download and/or podcast, please click on the link below: http://www.kcr...
Posted by chris and thomas on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:58:00 PST